Open challenge: Fix wi-fi WPA (with wpa_supplicant?)

[Timmi]

There have been some reports, all corroborating each other, that 4.3.1 (and older versions), cannot log on to WIFI networks using WPA encryption. The card will be configured, and sync ot the LANs without security, but the security login seems to be faulty.

The proposed fix of running wpa_supplicant only stays active until before the next reboot.

So, does anyone have the expertise to repair the source code and give us a version of 4.3.1.r with working connectivity using wifi+WPA? Forgive my neophyte terms... I mean to integrate wpa_supplicant into a kernel recompile, so this wonderful Puppy may work for the rest of us.

Now the purpose of this post is NOT to diagnose 1 laptop, but to have something integrated that is similar to wpa_supplicant, or fix the existing whatever it is.

[rjbrewer]

I've done wpa using 4.3.1 with 5 different wifi cards now;
both dsl and and cable connected wireless routers.

Have had some problems with ath5k....needed to run wizard
a couple times, right click connect icon and click autoconnect.
These may have been signal strength problems.

[Timmi]

These may have been signal strength problems.

The problem relates to it not connecting following procedure, after entering WPA key.

Router is in proximity, strong signal, and wireless is integrated into Centrino chipset on laptop (ie: intel's centrino is the most common wireless card on the market). If it was a signal strength problem (which it is not) it wouldn't connect without encryption.

I'm suspecting that possibly the routine changes everything to allcaps or all lowercase as it does with the ssid name (allcaps). Is this possible, or something entirely different? Also, do you have anything in your setup that deviates from the standard downloaded one? (addition of drivers that may add components) Or do you use an allcaps key (or that is only symbols and numbers)?

[rjbrewer]

I just used the standard cd downloads (4.3.1 small and 4.3.1 full).

There are a lot of different intel cards in laptops....they are not
"integrated" into centrino chipsets.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 449#307937

I don't have any problems with my belkin usb dongle that uses
zd1211rw module.
No problem with an almost new pavillion dv6000 with intel chipset,
or a 4+year old satellite with a different intel chipset.

[Timmi]

There are a lot of different intel cards in laptops....they are not
"integrated" into centrino chipsets.

Well, techincally they are. The wireless card has to be a low power, manageable by their control electronics (on a main board it was originally 3 chips for the control of the various elements but it's probably just one VLSI by now). If you don't have the intel wireless card, there is a component missing from the set of chips, and it is not considered "centrino". centrino is a marketing term that refers to all the components being made by intel, but most importantly, all conform to the power management criteria... and they all work together in harmony. this isn't to say that other manufacturers don't offer as good products, or even better ones (arguably of course, because that's marketing hype too). it's just saying that if you have something called centrino, then you've got standard intel, and in a world where there are all kinds of bastard combinations, it doesn't get any more consistent than that! hence, why I was saying it's the most common. because in fact, it is. intel has been one of the preferred NICs on the market, among technicians, because they work well, good avilability of drivers, and good interoperability because manufacturers don't leave intel out in their interoperability testing (with their switches, routers, etc.).

But we digress, don't we?

[rjbrewer]

Tried 4.3.1 on a ideapad s10 with intel wireless....doesn't
work at all.

Really need to find out exactly which card, drivers, your
laptop uses.

[Timmi]

Tried 4.3.1 on a ideapad s10 with intel wireless....doesn't
work at all. Really need to find out exactly which card, drivers, your
laptop uses.

lspci reports that it is an Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 (ABG)

Like I said, it really doesn't get more common than that.

I'm not installing any drivers... I'm relying on Puppy to detect and configure the hardware and drivers during installation. I've added nothing myself.

[rjbrewer]

Just tried 4.3.1 on my neighbors Tosh. Satellite with 3945 abg.

Had to scan network twice; but it found wpa in a few seconds,
no problem.

[Timmi]

Just tried 4.3.1 on my neighbors Tosh. Satellite with 3945 abg.
had to scan network twice; but it found wpa in a few seconds,
no problem.

Yup... have a satellite too... core2duo... scans and finds networks just fine.
But I already mentioned that.
Puppy does NOT connect using WPA though.
My laptop connects fine, so far, with the following operating systems:
Mint 7, Ubuntu 9.01, Ubuntu 9.10, Fedora 11, Fedora 12beta, Mepis, Knoppix... basically anything that I try.
Puppy recognizes my wireless card, and detects networks...it just won't connect using WPA. this problem has already been mentioned in the forums, and as I said in my initial post, there is a workaround mentioned inthe forums, but it has to be re-done each time you boot puppy. which doesn't make it a fix, just a way to deal with the problem until it is fixed.

[rjbrewer]

Works for me, but not for you?

My wpa keys are 10 to 14 letters or letter digit combinations,
no caps.

[Timmi]

Works for me, but not for you?
My wpa keys are 10 to 14 letters or letter digit combinations,
no caps.

I have a mix of lowercase and uppercase (just one) and numbers, as my isp had recommended to me. (I hope it's not converting everything to lowercase, cause its not supposed to do that).

And my setup works GREAT in ANYTHING except Puppy! (windows and other Linux distributions). I really don't get it. and I'm NOT the only one reporting this, hence my post. cause it's not a question of fixing puppy just for my laptop with modern and popular componentry, but other people's too who have reported this same issue.

[imnotrich]

This is an old issue. No version 3 or 4 puppy will connect to my wpa2 tkip/aes network.

Yes, the security keys match and puppy correctly detected my wireless network card (realtek 8185 b/g). I've tried everything, mac filtering on/off, ssid broadcast/not broadcast, changed channels, sat directly in front of the router (linkys wrt54gs with dd-wrt installed).

No joy at all.

I have been able to get WEP working with puppy, as of version 4.1.1 but that is not satisfactory. WEP was cracked long ago, might as well just go "open" and not use security at all.

I don't know why puppy even bothers to WEP. Delete WEP support and work on WPA please.

[rjbrewer]

Works for me, but not for you?
My wpa keys are 10 to 14 letters or letter digit combinations,
no caps.

Are you SURE you tried it with 5 different nics, and that you just happen to have a neighbor who has the same nic as I do?

Satellite m105-s3011 running windows7.

Yes, 5 different cards.

Have you tried one of the special 4.3.1 puppies with an earlier
kernel than 30.5?
Don't think they support dual-core though.

I've had wireless problems with earlier "barebones" puplets
with smp support.

edited twice

[Timmi]

I found extensive instructions on how to integrate this, but I'm no programmer and can't to it myself. see this address for info
(it's too long to post here) thinkwiki.org/wiki/Wpa_supplicant
and this is the author's page, Jouni Malinen, with an intelligent breakdown and discussion
hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant

and here are a couple other links that talk about it:
wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/WPA_Supplicant
linux.die.net/man/8/wpa_supplicant

If I had the expertise to do this myself, I'd do it and I'd upload a torrent to share the result.
But I don't, and can only hope that some kind soul will fix this at the source soon.

[Timmi]

OK, thanks for that. I think you're missing the POINT of this thread.
I'm NOT looking for help with ONLY my installation, but a more widespread fix for all, so ALL can enjoy puppy, including the 15-25% of users who may be seeing this bug. Read the other above post regarding other versions, which won't work either if you are having this problem (and I'm not sure I'd be interested in these versions when Puppy has come such a long way). When it gets fixed, I'll be installing Puppy and becoming a user for good... and recommending it to many.

I think Kauler is a genius! And that his distribution, the fruit of intelligent work and planning, could use a little help - I imagine when you run almost the whole show by yourself, you may not have time to do everything yourself.
It would be nice if someone knowledgeable would step up to the plate and give a bit of their time to implement the fix for this which is very well known. It's not like you need to search... sites abound with recommendations on how to write the script, implement wpa_supplicant, including here: http://linux.die.net/man/8/wpa_supplicant
I can't do this myself, but it can't be that complicated for someone konwledgeable!

[rjbrewer]

Looking through the 4.3.1 bugs threads; it appears you may be the
only one with the problem with 3945abg.

A little Google search shows that it's more common on the other
Linux distros that you list as being problem free.

[jemimah]

Have you tried this?
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=47838 It has a newer and more complete version of wpa_supplicant.

[maddmike]

I also have had lots of trouble with WPA and an Intel 3945 laptop. It worked for a while at home only with Puppy 4.0, but could never connect anywhere else. Since I upgraded to 4.1 and beyond (now running 4.2.1), it's been pretty flaky. The problems are much worse if I use a hidden SSID on my network.

Watching the output from wpa_supplicant with the -dd option for verbose debugging, it seems like network scanning usually doesn't find anything. Sometimes if I let wpa_supplicant run for a long time (10 minutes or more), it will eventually connect. Driving it through network wizard never works. These behaviors don't change using the newer wpa_supplicant in the wpa_gui post, or using the latest wpa_supplicant version 0.6.9 which I downloaded and compiled.

Googling around, it seems like there's a known problem with the iwl3945 driver and hardware scanning. Lots of people using other linux distributions recommend adding

Code: Select all

options iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1

to /etc/modprobe.conf. But my modprobe.conf doesn't have anything for iwl3945, only ipw3945. lsmod reports that iwl3945 is what's actually running, though. So I'm not clear on how to specify this option for iwl3945.

Bottom line for me is that wpa wireless is a pain with the iwl3945 driver. [it works perfectly with Windows, including hidden SSIDs.] I can usually get a connection (only with a broadcast SSID) by manually starting wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd a couple of times.

There are also a lot of WPA threads in these forums, but I haven't found any that clearly explains what's required to make it work.

[Timmi]

I also have had lots of trouble with WPA and an Intel 3945 laptop.
Googling around, it seems like there's a known problem with the iwl3945 driver and hardware scanning. Lots of people using other linux distributions recommend adding

Code: Select all

options iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1

to /etc/modprobe.conf.
But my modprobe.conf doesn't have anything for iwl3945, only ipw3945. lsmod reports that iwl3945 is what's actually running, though. So I'm not clear on how to specify this option for iwl3945.

Regarding your "options" line, and "iwl" vs. "ipw", would it cause problems if you added a second line, specifying the option switch for each one? Perhaps the one that it doesn't find it for will probably just be ignored?

[rjbrewer]

This looks interesting:

http://lists.shmoo.com/pipermail/hostap ... 19021.html